NYU BUILDING TAKEOVER

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE******
>
>
> NYU BUILDING TAKEOVER!!!
>
>
> At approximately 10pm tonight (Feb. 18), students of Take Back NYU!
> took
> over the Kimmel Marketplace. They have blockaded the doors and
> declared an
> occupation! They presented their demands to the NYU
> administration. They read as follows:
>
> DEMANDS
>
> We, the students of NYU, declare an occupation of this space. This
> occupation is the culmination of a two-year campaign by the Take
> Back NYU!
> coalition, and of campaigns from years past, in whose footsteps we
> follow.
> In order to create a more accountable, democratic and socially
> responsible
> university, we demand the following:
> 1. Full legal and disciplinary amnesty for all parties involved
> in the
> occupation.
> 2. Full compensation for all employees whose jobs were disrupted
> during
> the
> course of the occupation.
> 3. Public release of NYU's annual operating budget, including a
> full
> list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees
> compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff
> wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university
> construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and
> money
> allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the
> university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the
> amount and sources of the university's funding.
> 4. Disclosure of NYU's endowment holdings, investment strategy,
> projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms
> involved in the investment of the university's endowment funds.
> Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students,
> faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the
> university's investments.
> 5. That the NYU Administration agrees to resume negotiations with
> GSOC/UAW Local 2110 – the union for NYU graduate assistants, teaching
> assistants, and research assistants. That NYU publically affirm its
> commitment to respect all its workers, including student employees, by
> recognizing their right to form unions and to bargain collectively.
> That
> NYU publically affirm that it will recognize workers' unions
> through majority card verification.
> 6. That NYU signs a contract guaranteeing fair labor practices
> for all NYU employees at home and abroad. This contract will extend to
> subcontracted workers, including bus drivers, food service employees
> and
> anyone involved in the construction, operation and maintenance at
> any of
> NYU's non-U.S. sites.
> 7. The establishment of a student elected Socially Responsible
> Finance Committee. This Committee will have full power to vote on
> proxies, draft shareholder resolutions, screen all university
> investments, establish new programs that encourage social and
> environmental responsibility and override all financial decisions the
> committee deems socially irresponsible, including investment
> decisions.
> The committee will be composed of two subcommittees: one to assess the
> operating budget and one to assess the endowment holdings. Each
> committee will be composed of ten students democratically elected
> from the
> graduate and under-graduate student bodies. All committee decisions
> will
> be made a strict majority vote, and will be upheld by the
> university. All members of the Socially Responsible Finance
> Committee will
> sit on the board of trustees, and will have equal voting rights. All
> Socially Responsible Finance Committee and Trustee meetings shall be
> open
> to the public, and their minutes made accessible electronically
> through
> NYU's website. Elections will be held the second Tuesday of every
> March
> beginning March 10th 2009, and meetings will be held
> biweekly beginning the week of March 30th 2009.
> 8. That the first two orders of business of the Socially
> Responsible
> Finance
> committee will be:
> a) An in depth investigation of all investments in war and genocide
> profiteers, as well as companies profiting from the occupation of
> Palestinian territories.
> b) A reassessment of the recently lifted of the ban on Coca Cola
> products.
> 9. That annual scholarships be provided for thirteen Palestinian
> students, starting with the 2009/2010 academic year. These
> scholarships
> will include funding for books, housing, meals and travel expenses.
> 10.
> That the university donate all excess supplies and materials in an
> effort
> to
> rebuild the University of Gaza.
> 11. Tuition stabilization for all students, beginning with the
> class of 2012. All students will pay their initial tuition rate
> throughout the course of their education at New York University.
> Tuition rates for each successive year will not exceed the rate of
> inflation, nor shall they exceed one percent. The university shall
> meet
> 100% of government-calculated student financial need.
> 12. That student groups have priority when reserving space in the
> buildings owned or leased by New York University, including, and
> especially, the Kimmel Center.
> 13. That the general public have access to Bobst Library.
> Along with this, students have issued a
>
> SOLIDARITY STATEMENT
> We, the students of Take Back NYU! declare our solidarity with the
> student
> [sleepovers] in Greece,
> Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as those of the University of
> Rochester, the New School for Social Research, and with future
> [sleepovers] to come in the name of democracy and student power. We
> stand
> in solidarity with the University of Gaza, and with the people of
> Palestine.
>
> ####
>
> http://takebacknyu.com/
>
> http://groups.google.com/group/take-back-nyu/subscribe
>
> http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2009/02/18/exclusive-tbnyu-takes-over-kimmel-marketplace/
>
> http://nyc.indymedia.org
>